With individuals above 45 years of age in the country now eligible to get COVID-19 vaccines, Amazon India on Monday said that it will cover the cost of COVID-19 jabs for more than 10 lakh people. This includes its India employees, associates, sellers with active listings since last year, operations partner network of Delivery Service Partner associates, including Amazon Flex drivers, I Have Space (IHS) store partners, trucking partners and also their eligible dependents.
Amazon India said that the benefit also will be available to all sellers, on Amazon.in with an active listing since last year.
The new development is an addition to the $2.5 billion investment Amazon has globally made towards special bonuses and incentives for its teams in the last year, and the overall $11.5 billion investment towards COVID-19-related measures.
"Health and safety of our teams and partners continues to be our top priority," Amit Agarwal, Senior Vice President and Country Manager, Amazon India, said in a statement.
"We are encouraging eligible individuals to get vaccinated, and will cover the cost of vaccination for our employees, associates, operations partner network, sellers and their eligible dependents to ensure their continued safety."
The announcement comes at a time when India is ramping up vaccinations amid a renewed surge in COVID-19 cases.
Amazon India supports cost coverage for COVID-19 treatment, hospital search and coverage of prescribed COVID-19 tests. Initiatives have been scaled and evolved to address the prevailing situation.
“In 2020, Amazon had rolled out a number of measures to support SMBs in its ecosystem in India to navigate the economic challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic including a variety of fee waivers, relaxation of policies, and we worked with an insurance provider to facilitate COVID-19 health insurance coverage for eligible sellers on Amazon.in. The Amazon Relief Fund (ARF) was launched in India in April 2020 with a $25 million relief fund for partners and continues to provide support to all eligible individuals,” the company said in a statement.